"By Aeroplane to Pygmyland" Accounts of the 1926 Smithsonian-Dutch Expedition to New Guinea

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Journal of Stanley Hedberg
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August 22, 1926 : Rouffaer River


Sunday
August 22
1926

It was a brite red dawn and the sunrise with the mountains in the left made a pretty picture. The Dyaks reported many mosguitoes [sic] but no Papuans during the nite. We had breakfast and immediately afterwards the Papuan canoe from down stream only 2 visited camp while we could hear many on the point below. [sic] One brot a back basket of a sort of carrot root and I gave him some beads for them and as the Dyaks said it wasn’t good “macan” [sic, = makan (Malay, “[to] eat”)] [,] we left it. I also got a small net bag and the few things he had in it as well as a woven head cap. Beads were acceptable. When the old chap had finished trading he asked permission to go up stream thru the jungle. He evidently belonged to the tribe which went above and remained below so he could be on hand early to trade some more. Last evening I {F3.41} tried to get the name of whickers [sic] and he thot I wanted some of his so he brot several shades wraped [sic] up which he insisted I take[.] I did and to show appreciation gave him a few beads. We packed and left at 9. Right around the bend in a canoe was the other chap who also asked permission to depart before he left. Their village was close by and we as [sic, = as we] passed the women and children stood on the shore waving to us. The men shouted friendly greetings. It is a very warm morning and very clear as it has been since we left. We are well loaded now and will have to stop trading for we’ve no place to put the stuff. We had gone but a short distance when we spotted another camp. It was where the transport had stopped. We stop[ped] to trade with some folks on shore but they were not very friendly when we refused to part with knives for everything they offered. At 2 in the afternoon we came upon the spot where the motor boat broke down and a short distance below we traded with some big fellows who were very friendly. We traded one knife and many beads and secured a good head dress. They were very picturesque and well decorated. After trading for 15 or 20 minutes we continued down stream and soon saw the bivauc we had made the night Saleh got 2 birds. We wanted to stop there but the Dyaks went on for some reason or other and we came to the place where a house was on an island point and [where] we had traded. We built a camp on the opposite shore and altho we saw and heard them shout they failed to put in their appearance. They continued shouting on all sides as we built a camp. Two canoes loaded with 10 men crossed over at dusk but they were evidently afraid to come over and shouted excitedly at us. They were none too friendly. We built a stockade at one end of camp and scattered dry palm leaves in back of our lean[-]to, which was only 3 feet from the high river bank. The water is very low. A huge dead tree was very close by and the Dyaks cut it a little so if a strong wind came up it would fall the {F3.42} other way. About one in the morning – the Dyaks did not stand guard for some reason or other – there was big thud and the Dyaks jumped out of bed like lightning. A large piece of the bank had given way rite up to upstream side of our leanto. We moved the heavy bagger to the opposite end of the leanto and back towards the jungle and went back to bed hoping the rest of it would hold until morning. It did luckily or we would have all tumbled into the swift stream, beds, bagger and all.




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